To ring in our 4th anniversary, we moved to a new location in Del Mar, California. It was on June 10th that we stumbled upon a FOR RENT sign above one of my favorite local eateries, PrepKitchen. "I would like this office, please," I told Andrew, half-joking, half-serious (joking only because I was pretty sure it would be out of our price range). The next day, I contacted the landlord, and everything seemed to fall into place from there. Within my budget? Dog friendly? Walking distance to the beach? Sold!

The second order of business (after signing the lease) was to design the space. So, I started a Pinterest board to collect ideas.

Some of you may be Pinterest pros, but for those who are new to it, Pinterest is an excellent tool for organizing inspirational images for pretty much anything: architecture, home décor, branding, fashion, photography, etc.

A small, east-facing, gray-walled space tends to be on the darker side, so to brighten the room I went with light-colored furniture.

On Pinterest, I started by gathering favorite furniture pieces and decorative elements. Eventually, I deleted selections that didn't fit the space or budget, so by the end, I was left with a "shopping list" of sorts.

Here we used a custom-made wall decal that coordinates with Akula Kreative branding:

And, last but not least...my favorite little "storage" wall:

This kitchen towel bar was the perfect solution for storing oversized sheets of paper, and since this wall gets little sunlight during the day, I had my favorite felter on Etsy make me a set of mini succulents that would never die.

Keeping Wall Damage to a Minimum

Since we're on a lease, I used Command hooks and fasteners wherever possible, and refrained from hanging heavy items like framed art and the craft hutch.

Washi tape can also easily be removed from smooth, painted surfaces, so it's a perfect substitute for push pins or permanent tape.

Another great substitute? The removable wall decal instead of paint!

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We're so blessed to be able to live and work in such a beautiful place, and we can't wait to see what the coming year has in store for us. Thank you to everyone who has supported us over the past four years, and for helping make our studio dream come true! (Thanks also to the Fairytale Fashionista for the beautiful flower arrangement!)